Hermione awoke the next morning and looked around the room. It took a few moments for it to register where she was. The room she had slept in was exquisite, just like the rest of the house, with white furniture, pale green walls and matching crisp, white bed linen. It was one of the rooms with a balcony and Hermione could see sunlight through the small gaps in the curtains. She slipped out of bed and went over, opening the drapes and French doors to step outside.

She was on the second floor, overlooking the gardens and she shielded her sleepy eyes from the sun to take in the view. Going on the rest of the house, Hermione wasn't surprised that the gardens were perfectly manicured with pristine, green lawns, topiary and flower beds. The sight of it made her sigh because this whole place was so agreeable, charming and welcoming.

She sat on her balcony for a few minutes, trying not to let her mind race away and allowing herself a few moments of peace and tranquility. The events of the previous evening kept leaping into her mind and she felt a little twist of nerves in her stomach about seeing Draco this morning. She knew that they really needed to talk everything through and be totally honest with each other but that didn't make it an easy thing to do. Especially as she hadn't yet quite got her own thoughts straight.

Eventually, she went back inside to get dressed and then left her room, tentatively finding her way along the corridors and down the stairs to the kitchen. She entered the large room to find a rather stout woman standing at the sink. She turned when she saw Hermione and gave her a wide smile.

"Good morning!"

"Good morning," Hermione answered.

The woman approached her, wiping her hands on the tea towel she was holding. "I'm Kathy – I'm Draco's housekeeper."

"Oh – pleased to meet you," Hermione let the woman shake her hand enthusiastically. "I'm Hermione."

Kathy's smile widened. "Yes, my dear. I know who you are." Hermione bit her lip, not sure how to take this and Kathy gave a hearty chuckle. "The girl who defeated you know who! Everyone knows who you are."

"That was a long time ago," Hermione answered , modestly.

"Draco told me you were here," Kathy said. "Are you hungry?"

"Errr….yes…I am," Hermione nodded. She didn't want to say that actually she was starving. It registered in the back of Hermione's mind that Kathy called Draco by his first name. There was no formality here then? This surprised Hermione who had imagined that Draco would have expected his employees to address him formally.

"Right – as it's such a lovely day Draco asked for breakfast to be laid out in the Summerhouse," Kathy walked towards the French doors at the back of the kitchen. "He's already there so I'll show you where it is." She indicated for Hermione to follow her and walked past the doors and around the corner of the kitchen units. Hermione followed and found herself in another large, square hallway which had a less tidy look than the rest of the house with shoes, coats and several mops and other kitchen equipment hung and stored in various corners.

"Did you sleep well?" Kathy asked as they made their way across the room.

"Oh, yes – my room was lovely," Hermione answered. "In fact, this whole house is beautiful."

Kathy nodded enthusiastically as she opened a door to one side. "Oh, it is. I love the place – I'm very lucky to work here."

Hermione was surprised to hear her say this and she realized that she still had a hundred preconceptions about Draco. She had expected him to by a tyrannical employer who's employees feared him. This lovely woman quite obviously didn't feel like this at all and her next words confirmed this.

"It's lovely that you're here, my dear," Kathy led Hermione down the narrow corridor that was off the hallway.

"Thank you."

Hermione followed her along the corridor that had several doors one side and windows running the entire length of the other wall. These windows looked out onto a courtyard with benches and a pond. It felt like a different house – like a country cottage but Hermione liked it equally as much.

"You'll be lovely for Draco," Kathy nodded her head enthusiastically at Hermione who tried not to show her embarrassment at Kathy's phrasing.

"Oh, well we're just friends really," Hermione protested but Kathy waved her hand dismissively.

"Of course – that's fine for now. That's how it should be. Mr Summerbridge is my best friend in the word even after 30 years of marriage. When Draco told me you might be here I was very pleased and you're just like I thought you'd be." Kathy surprised Hermione by giving her hand a squeeze. "Such a refreshing change from some we've had here…" Kathy said this in a conspiratory tone and Hermione bit her lip, not quite sure how to reply to this but Kathy wasn't waiting for a reply and she continued. "That sort aren't right for him – I mean they look right with him and obviously he would be any girls dream catch but he needs more than that. Right up themselves as well – speaking to me like I'm dirt….." Kathy paused. "I shouldn't be saying this…"

Hermione smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry – I won't say a word."

"See! That's what I mean! Your pretty as a picture, my dear but you have manners." Kathy stopped walking as they had reached a door at the end of the corridor. Kathy opened it and indicated for Hermione to go through. "You don't need me intruding, dear, so it's straight through the apex and it's at the far end." Hermione looked uncertain and Kathy nodded again. "Go on, my dear. I'll see you in a while to make sure you have everything you need."

"Thank you," Hermione said again and Kathy gave her a wink.

The apex was a walkway, made entirely of glass. The roof and walls were almost seamless with just a few edges and Hermione could see that she was now out in the gardens that she'd seen from her balcony. As she walked just a few steps it opened out into a large, round, conservatory type room, again made entirely of glass with plants and outdoor type tables and chairs. Hermione shook her head in wonder at the beauty of it. This was the Summerhouse? Her idea of a summerhouse was a shed type building at the bottom of the garden!

It took her a moment to see Draco, who was seated at a dining table at the far end of the room. She approached him slowly and he looked up from pouring a cup of tea and smiled.

"Good morning."

"Good morning." Hermione took a seat at the table which was laden with fruit, cereals, cakes, croissants and pots of tea and coffee. "Merlin! How much food?" she asked.

"Kathy likes to feed me well," Draco said. "Help yourself."

"Okay – thank you." Hermione wanted to remain dignified but she was also hungry and it all looked delicious, so she took a plate.

"Did you sleep okay?"

"Yes! My room was lovely," Hermione answered. She stopped eating for a moment and leant forward. "I know it's all I've done since I arrived here and I'm probably repeating myself but your house is incredible. I mean – look at this! And the apex leading to it and the little courtyard…." She stopped speaking because Draco was smiling at her, his eyes dancing. She put her head to one side. "Sorry – I know I'm probably boring you to tears but I can't get over how amazing it all is. You've done an impressive job because I didn't think I could ever get quite so enraptured by a building!"

Draco was still grinning at her and he gave a little laugh. "Thank you. I'm glad you like it so much."

"If someone asked me what my dream house would be like, then this would be it," Hermione flung her arms wide, indicating the room.

"So next time I invite you, you'll be a bit more enthusiastic about coming?"

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "Yeh – sorry about that. I didn't want to intrude, it isn't like going to your office is it? This is your personal space."

Draco wiped his fingers on a napkin. "Given the situation we're dealing with, I think there may have to be quite a bit of intrusion, don't you?"

"I suppose so," Hermione said, quietly and then she gave a little chuckle. "You've got chocolate on your nose."

Draco wiped his nose with his napkin and grinned. "Well, there's my chance to prove how smooth and sophisticated I am gone in a flash!"

"Don't worry – I already know how smooth and sophisticated you are," Hermione answered. She then felt slightly awkward at her admission and cleared her throat. "So, shall we start with arranging a schedule for our work? When would be best for me to come and help you?"

"That's one of the problems. I don't have a schedule – things just happen. One moment I'm in the office and then the next I'm out at a raid or something."

"I know it's not ideal and you might have to miss things but at least if I'm there some of the time…"

"I know – that's how it'll have to be," Draco answered. "Don't look guilty, this isn't your fault."

Hermione sighed and dropped the fruit she was holding back onto her plate. She had to tell him because it would just play on her mind until she did. She really wanted to just leave the whole subject alone but she knew she had to force herself to be completely honest or this whole situation was going to a disaster.

"See – I think it is my fault."

Draco frowned at her. "How?"

Hermione cleared her throat again, which suddenly seemed to have gone very dry. "The day at the stones, when the spell was activated. You were saying my name – proving that you could make women fall for you by just calling them by their name."

"So, isn't it my fault then?"

"No. You were just being your usual arrogant self," Hermione answered and Draco rolled his eyes. "I let you affect me – I know I insisted that you couldn't affect me by just saying my name but the fact is; you did. So when we hit the stones I suppose I was feeling something….different….." She stopped speaking and looked down at her plate. This was mortifying. When Draco didn't speak, she glanced up at him to find his expression had changed. His eyes were doing that incredible deep stare again. His one word answer made her stare almost as deeply back.

"Ditto."

Hermione grasped her hands together, unconsciously twisting her fingers. "You weren't hating me then?"

"I liked you from the minute you walked into our wing at Hogwarts."

Hermione bit her lip, nervously, not believing her ears. "But you were awful to me! The day after I got there you said you couldn't see what all the fuss was about!"

"You remember using that bravado word, last night?"

Hermione stared at him, breakfast totally forgotten. "Are you telling me you didn't mean it?"

"Of course I didn't mean it! I just didn't know how to talk to you," Draco answered, easily and Hermione marveled at his comfort when telling her this.

"YOU didn't know how to talk to ME?" she emphasized the 'you' and 'me' and raised her eyebrows.

Draco shrugged. "You're Hermione Granger!"

"But you're Draco Malfoy – you're supposed to be able to handle any situation that's thrown at you."

"Except the one where I have to start a conversation with a girl who didn't want to give me the time of day," he shook his head. "I know this will make me sound like a jerk but woman don't play hard to get with me, Hermione."

"Yes – that made you sound like a jerk."

"What I mean, is I don't have to work at making girls like me." He shrugged. "They just do and I don't have to do very much to keep them happy."

"Yep – a real jerk!"

Draco sighed loudly. "I'm trying to be honest with you."

"Sorry – go on."

"I had no idea how to talk to you. It was totally foreign to me that I would have to persuade you or convince you that I had changed. So I reverted to winding you up and teasing you."

Hermione looked across the table at him, knowing just how much of a step down this confession must have been for him. "You really meant it about being honest, didn't you?"

"I don't see that we have a choice – not if we are to stand a chance of making this situation bearable."

"Neville asked me what was going on with you just a few days after we'd gone back," Hermione said. "I told him I didn't know what he was on about."

"Well, he's more perceptive than I gave him credit for," Draco answered.

Hermione shook her head. "But why would you like me? We have nothing in common and all those years at school…"

"You're right! I have no idea why I like you, but I do." Draco flashed her a wide smirk and she couldn't help but smile back at him. Had he really just told her he liked her? She felt a little flutter in her stomach at even thinking the words. He had really meant it about them having a chat! This was ground breaking!

"Did you mean what you said in your speech? About when I punched you?"

"Of course I meant it! Do you think I would have said all that to a room full of people if it wasn't true?" Draco asked, impatiently.

Hermione shook her head. "No – I'm just finding all this a bit hard to take in." She looked down at the table and then back up at him. He was folding his napkin over and over, slightly slumped in his chair and she could tell he was unhappy with her. She spoke quietly, keeping her eyes on his face. "In that case, I'm really glad I punched you. Maybe I should have taken you up on your offer to do it again. It could have made you an even better person."

She watched as he lifted his eyes to hers and his lips twisted. She raised her eyebrows, waiting for his response and gave him the smallest of smiles to tell him she was joking and after just a moment he sat up slightly and shook his head at her. "This is about as good as I'm going to get. You can punch me twenty times but I'll never turn into Longbottom."

"You need to drop the whole Neville thing," Hermione said.

"You still like him, don't you?"

"Yes – he's lovely."

"You know what I mean," Draco said. "If it wasn't for all this, you'd be with him."

"Despite him being far too boring for me?" Hermione reminded Draco of his previous advice.

"He is too boring for you."

"How do you know? I might like the quiet life."

"So you agree that he's boring then?" Draco gave a little smirk.

"I didn't say that." Hermione looked over at him and gave a nod. "But there is nothing going on with Neville and there never will be."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "You should never say never."

Hermione shuffled her chair closer to the table and leant forward. "My decision isn't about Neville. The big decision is the one we have to make." She saw Draco take a breath before speaking and she knew he understood what she meant which gave her the courage to carry on speaking. "I mean, we can come up with some kind of rota to let us still do our jobs and only call on each other if we need magic for something important."

"I don't think either of us could live like that, magic is too important to both of us," Draco said. His face looked pale and Hermione suddenly felt sorry for him: as sorry as she felt for herself. He looked over at her anxiously. "Unless that's what you want?"

"You know it's not what I want," Hermione answered him. She took a moment, trying to compose herself because this was like being dragged through an emotional whirlwind. "So, another option is we help each other at work and then try and continue our friendship in the hope that eventually it will be enough to stop the spell…."

"It won't." Draco's reply was so blunt that it made Hermione catch her breath. He looked over at her anxiously. "Sorry – I was just being truthful. You know being friends isn't going to be enough." His eyes looked pained and Hermione had to take a gulp of air as she felt tears forming. She needed to say it and she needed to be as blunt as Draco had just been.

"You can't make someone love you – not just because you need them to."

For a moment it was as if everything had come to a stop because Hermione had finally spoken the words that they had both been thinking. To hear them out loud was shocking; they seemed to hang in the room like actual objects. Draco moved first, lowering his head into his hands. He spoke into his hands, half mumbling but his words made Hermione want to sob.

"I could never make you love me."

Hermione had never felt so sorry for anyone in her entire life. It was totally terrifying to see Draco like this, to hear him say something that hundreds of people could say and mean, but not someone like him. He'd just said himself that he could have any women he wanted so to hear him say that he couldn't make her feel anything for him was heart breaking. It was also untrue – she knew in that moment that she already felt something for him because his obvious anguish horrified her. She had no idea that he could ever have felt like this, his outward demeanor was the polar opposite to this and it was like watching stone crumble.

She had no idea if his words meant he wanted her to love him or if he just wanted the spell to end, it the fact that he might even consider that he couldn't have an effect on her, that their years of hatred could never be erased that touched her. He'd already erased them and she needed to tell him.

Hermione slid off her chair and moved over to him, bending down in front of him. "You just told me that I should never say never and there you go saying it two minutes later," she reminded him, her voice low. "Do you think I'm just here because of the spell? Don't you think that I already care about you?"

He lifted his eyes now and she was glad to see the usual, mischievous glint in them. "I knew you'd only be able to resist for so long."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "For Merlin's sake! You're unbelievable! Only Draco Malfoy could go from anguish to arrogance in 30 seconds flat!" She'd hated seeing him like that, even for the few moments it had lasted and despite her reaction to his sudden change back to his usual self, she was elated that he was okay.

Draco leant even closer to her, his face just inches from hers. "Actually, only Hermione Granger telling me she cares about me could make me go from anguish to arrogance in 30 seconds flat," he answered her and she blinked rapidly, her heart doing a little somersault.

"I didn't know I did, until a few seconds ago," Hermione confessed.

Draco reached out and took her hand and she immediately felt the warmth of their connection. This time she went with it, letting it spread around her, welcoming it. Something had happened when she'd seen Draco let his guard down. Just that few seconds of total honesty, total vulnerability had made something change in Hermione. Suddenly, she had hope that they just might be able to make this work. She could live with his over confidence, his arrogance, his constant teasing if she also had his trust. If he could let her in like he just had, then she knew she could too.

Okay - so there are several things I want to say.

Firstly - I know that Draco seems totally OOC at the end of this. What I wanted to do was make him his normal, arrogant (and charming) self until finally he cracks and gives into it. I hope the fact that he quickly slips back to normal helped and that it didn't seem too off.

I also know that Hermione suddenly says a lot - having said nothing at all so far but again, this situation, staying at his house and him putting so much effort into trying to get along finally got through to her.

Please let me know what you thought - I'm open to critisism if you think it wasn't right. Hopefully, you liked it and thought it was about time!

So - they've both confessed - I think the door is now open for them to keep building on this. The story isn't really over because the spell is still in force but what I don't want to do is drag it on and on.

I debated with jumping now to an epilogue and cutting out all the part where they really fall in love and end the spell but finally decided that the story needs just a bit more completion before that.

So - maybe a couple more chapters? Hope that's okay. x